Even if you are not a student or practitioner of law enforcement administration, you are likely to be engrossed by John Buntin’s most recent book, L.A. Noir – The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City.
It is the story of the rise to power of two of Los Angeles most renowned characters: William H. “Bill” Parker and Meyer Harris “Mickey” Cohen. As the publisher notes, “These two men, one morally unflinching, the other unflinchingly immoral, would soon come head-to-head in a struggle to control the city.”
It is the story of a Los Angeles city government, including a police department and a county sheriff’s department, corrupted by gangsters and dishonest public officials. It chronicles how Chief Bill Parker rose to be the head of the most admired and most reviled police department in the United States – the Los Angeles Police Department.
For those in Coeur d’Alene who either worked for or along side the officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, it is a reminder of how far out of the muck Parker (along with August Vollmer, O.W. Wilson, and V.A. Leonard) brought law enforcement. It is also a reminder that public corruption is a persistent cancer that cannot be eradicated but can be controlled by honest and dedicated men and women.
Thanks for the tip on a good book to read. I love great nonfiction – but stay away from autobiographies. I like true crime as well, but read it in small chunks. This sounds like a really good book and they are so hard to find these days. I will also pass it along to my father in law – he was an ex LAPD officer then after an injury, he retired to security at the horsetracks.
Comment by Stebbijo — November 11, 2009 @ 9:37 am
I should have included that the book is available at the Post Falls library and is available through any of the KSAL library branches via interlibrary loan. I presume the Coeur d’Alene public library could get it, too.
Comment by Bill — November 11, 2009 @ 9:54 am
“…it is a reminder of how far out of the muck Parker (along with August Vollmer, O.W. Wilson, and V.A. Leonard) brought law enforcement.”
S’ok, Bradley, Gates and Parks have undone all the good that Parker, et alia did.
Comment by Pariah — November 14, 2009 @ 8:17 am
Pariah,
I disagree in part. Gates was mentored by Parker and did a lot to hold the wolves of City Hall at bay. Gates had a great deal of confidence in his subordinates who were good law enforcement administrators but poor politicians. In Los Angeles, a police chief has to be politically savvy, lest he let the wolves devour the lambs. Gates’ biggest problem may have been that he stayed a little too long and did not have a politically prepared successor groomed to step in if Gates made a graceful departure. Don’t forget that Chief Willie Williams was hired to succeed Gates. Then Parks succeeded Williams. As bad as you may think Gates was, Williams and Parks were infinitely worse.
Comment by Bill — November 14, 2009 @ 8:35 am
Forgot about Willie. Did he ever pass POST?
“As bad as you may think Gates was, Williams and Parks were infinitely worse.”
Gates set the stage, he wanted to be Mayor. He was at a fundraiser the night Los Angeles burned. I listened as the metro commanders begged for authority to respond and Gates remained ‘unavailable’. In the moment he was most needed, he failed. My contempt for him knows no bounds.
Comment by Pariah — November 14, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
Oh yeah, Bernie was a Gates protege.
Comment by Pariah — November 14, 2009 @ 4:25 pm